The Cards and The Miraculouses
by lavendermelody
Summary: Tomoyo Daidouji's mother is planning on expanding Daidouji Toys to Paris, France and is delighted to take her daughter, Sakura, and Syaoran along on a trip to France to check out potential branch site areas. What happens when the Cardcaptor aka Cardmistress meets the famed Parisian superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir? Will someone get akumatized?
1. Chapter 1

The Cards and the Miraculouses

(A/N: this takes place when Sakura and co. are in middle school, but in an alternate universe where the Clear Card arc didn't happen and Sakura still has her cards intact)

* * *

Ch. 1

"Who...are you?"

The three words slipped out of the auburn-haired Cardmistress otherwise known as Sakura Kinomoto as she glimpsed at two silhouettes, one male and one female, in front of her. She couldn't make them out, but the male figure looked to have cat ears and a cat tail? Strange. Before she could receive an answer to her question, she felt herself being pulled out of her dream world and into reality as someone called her name.

"MIss Kinomoto? Miss KInomoto!"

"Y-YES?!" she cried, abruptly sitting straight up in her chair.

Tthere was dead silence in the room as all eyes stared at her with piqued curiosity. Seeing this, Sakura blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed. "U-um..." She looked up at the teacher standing before her desk and gave a sheepish laugh. "I'm sorry."

Letting out a sigh, the teacher replied as he turned his back and walked back towards the front of the classroom, "Please pay more attention in class and don't fall asleep next time."

"Yes, i understand."

"Did you have another one of those dreams?" Tomoyo asked, leaning over in her seat towards Sakura just a little.

Nodding, Sakura replied, "I'll tell you about it later," before reverting her attention towards the teacher. I should probably tell Syaoran about it, too. There was no way she was going to leave him in the dark about something that might be magical-related. Since he was placed in a different classroom than her and Tomoyo, she could only talk to him in between class periods and lunch break.

"Summer break is coming up," began the teacher, "and while I'm sure you all have plans, please do not forget to do your summer homework assignments. They are all due immediately when you come back." At her last sentence, the class let out a collective groan. Couldn't they have at least one summer where they didn't have to do any summer homework?

Soon, it was lunch break. Sitting on a bench in between Tomoyo and Syaoran with a simple bento prepared by her dad on her lap, she recanted her dream to them as they listened intently.

"One of them had cat ears and a cat tail?" Syaoran asked puzzingly. "What about the other figure you saw?"

Sakura shook her head. "I couldn't really tell but she had a pigtail hairstyle. The place was unfamiliar, too. It looked nothing like Japan."

"Do you remember what it looked like?"

"There were a lot of Western-style buildings around, I think."

Syaoran put a hand to his chin. "Hm. This isn't the first time where your dream took place outside of Japan." He was referring to that time in their elementary school years when Sakura randomly won a prize trip to his home in Hong Kong and found herself entangled with Madoushi, a former lover of Clow Reed, there.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah..."

"You didn't sense anything from them, did you?" asked Tomoyo.

Sakura shook her head. "No. But anyway, do you guys have any plans for summer vacation?"

Tomoyo grinned. "My mom is planning on expanding Daidouji Toys overseas and wants to open her first overseas branch in Paris so we'll be taking a brief vacation there."

"Wow, Paris! I heard it's romantic and pretty over there!" exclaimed Sakura. She had seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night and thought that it looked beautiful.

Tomoyo nodded in agreement. "Me, too. I'm excited to be going there for the first time. It'd be great if you two could come, too! We can also probably make a trip to England and visit Hiiragizawa since England is not too far from France. My mom would totally be okay with it!" She knew how her mother was just as infatuated with her best friend as she was with her.

Sakura lit up. "Is it really okay? I'll ask my dad and older brother tonight!"

"How about you, Li?" Tomoyo asked, now turning her attention on Syaoran.

"I don't have any plans in particular..."

"Then we can all go together!" Sakura exclaimed cheerfully.

Later that night at dinner...

"Oh, Sonomi is expanding her business overseas? That's impressive!" Fujitaka remarked as he set down plates of food on the table.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, she wants to make her first foreign location in France. Oh, speaking of which, Tomoyo invited me and Syaoran to come with her. Can i?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"Yay!"

"I'm not fine with that brat coming along with you so I'll be tagging along," chimed in Touya.

Sakura scowled. When was he ever going to back off on Syaoran? "Don't you have college and your part time job?"

"We have summer vacation around the same time as you and Yuki and I can find someone to cover for us while we're gone. Besides, I can't let a little monster run around Paris, can I?"

At the mention of the word "monster," Sakura glared daggers at Touya. "I am NOT a monster!" How long was he going to keep being mean and teasing her?


	2. Chapter 2

The Cards and The Miraculouses Ch. 2

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"Ooh, Paris? Isn't that in Europe where that Eriol lives?" Kero asked upon Sakura telling him about Tomoyo's mother's business plans.

Sakura gave an affirmative nod. "Mmhm! But I don't know how to speak French, though...I wonder if there are anyone who might know Japanese over there..." Or even better, if there was a card that can translate languages... She wasn't sure if Tomoyo even knew how to speak the language, either. Maybe there was someone employed with the Daidoujis who might?

"Oh, it can't be that hard! You only need to know 'bonjour', 'merci', and 'ohoho baguette!'" chirped the guardian beast nonchalantly with a dismissive wave of his paw as he lazed on his back mid-air.

"That's not funny, Kero..." Perhaps she should just install a French phrasebook and Japanese-French dictionary app on her phone to use during the trip. "Anyway I should call Tomoyo and tell her that my dad gave me permission and that brother is planning on tagging along with Yukito."

"Ooh, the Snow Rabbit is going?!"

"It's not for certain yet, he still has to ask him."

"If he goes then it would be Yue and I's first time to France, haha! Also, the Cards, too. But knowing him, he probably wouldn't have any reaction, that expressionless moon guardian."

Sakura let out a sigh. Some things will never change. Picking up her phone from her bedside stand, she proceeded to call Tomoyo and tell her about her father's approval. Upon hearing what her friend had to say, Tomoyo was ecstatic. "I'll send you the flight info over text! We're planning on leaving next weekend. Like I said, my mom was totally okay with you and Li coming along and bought 3 tickets! But you said your brother and Tsukishiro are coming along, too, right?"

"Yeah..."

"I'll see if I can get my mom to reserve plane tickets for them, too."

"Oh, no, I don't want us to be indebted to you!"

"But because it's Sakura's family, we don't mind doing anything for you!"

Well, unless your name is Fujitaka Kinomoto. Anyone with decent observation skills could see that Sonomi hates the man with every fiber of her being.

"Are you sure it'll be okay with your mom? I'm sure they can buy their own plane tickets..."

"I'll have to ask first but I doubt that she would say no. Did Li confirm with you that he'd be also going?"

"Yeah, I just spoke with him earlier. Like he said at lunch, he doesn't have any plans in particular so he's coming along."

"That's good. Then I can happily film you and Li in romantic Paris together, ohoho! I'll call it "Sakura and Li's Wonderful Date in Paris!"

"Hoeee...oh yeah, since none of us speak French is there anyone who can be our translator while we're there?"

"Oh, I know a little bit of French!"

"Really? Wow, you're amazing, Tomoyo!"

"Of course, I won't be able to understand everything there but i know how to say a few things to get around as a tourist! I've learned a few phrases here and there from some tutors and my bodyguards. Ah, mom's calling me. Good night, Sakura. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Good night, Tomoyo."

After ending the call, Sakura laid back on her bed and closed her eyes for a moment. What would France be like? Are the people there as kind as the people in Japan? She hoped that she would be able to enjoy her summer there. And since Paris is known as the "City of Love", she hoped that she would be able to do many coupley things with her beloved Syaoran. Since they had been away from each other for a whole year and only just reunited early this year, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible to make up for lost time. And hopefully, they can enjoy their summer vacation there without experiencing any weird supernatural or magical events like when she went to Hong Kong in 4th grade. Fortunately, Kero said that this would be their (the Cards) first time in France so that likely meant that Clow Reed never stepped foot in there and made any enemies. Speaking of which, should she even bring the Sakura Cards with her? Perhaps she should, just in case...

"So what did she say?" Kero asked, breaking Sakura out of her thoughts.

Opening her eyes, Sakura sat up. "She said her mom booked us three tickets and that she'll see if she can get her to buy tickets for brother and Yukito, too. But I wonder if we're troubling them by having them do so...Tomoyo says she doesn't think so, but..."

"Sakura, the Daidoujis see you like family so don't think you're being a burden on them!" advised Kero. "Although...with all the part time jobs he's had, I think that brother of yours could afford to buy his own plane ticket...oh right, speaking of your brother you're gonna have to find ways to have your lovey-dovey moments with that kid in private without him showing up out of nowhere, haha!"

Sakura sighed again. "Well, I'm going to go to bed since it's getting a bit late, and I have morning cleaning duty tomorrow. Good night, Kero!"

"Good night, Sakura."

A full week passed, until finally it was the weekend of the Paris vacation trip. Sakura found herself standing in the same international airport that she went to when she went to Hong Kong, albeit this time at a different gate bound for Europe. Wearing a white butterfly-sleeved laced blouse with a square neckline, a rose quartz-colored skirt, a cute pink beret with a bow on the side, and light beige oxfords, she looked cute and fashionable according to Tomoyo's standard (then again, when was Sakura ever not cute in Tomoyo's eyes?). Seeing Tomoyo pointing her video camera at her, Sakura let out a small laugh. "Tomoyo..."

"It would be a waste to not film my cute Sakura as she boards her first plane to Paris!" exclaimed Tomoyo, her eyes twinkling with adoration. "Right, mother?"

Sonomi, who was right by her daughter, nodded affirmatively. "We're so glad that you can come with us! Just consider me your guardian for this trip! Oh right, where's your boyfriend and your brother and his friend?"

Sakura blushed at the word "boyfriend." It still felt surreal that she and Syaoran were a couple now. "He's..."

"I'm here, sorry for keeping you waiting."

At the sound of his voice, Sakura turned her head. What she saw almost made her burst out laughing. The boy looked as if he had packed enough to go live in France for a year! Even Tomoyo and Sonomi had to keep from breaking out into laughter.

"Li, we're only going to be there for a month or two, not an entire year," Tomoyo said, giggling.

"Err...sorry, did I bring too much?" Syaoran asked, a sheepish look on his face.

"Just a tad," replied Sakura.

"Oi!"

"Oh, they're right on time," commented Tomoyo as she gestured to a running Touya and Yukito. Upon seeing Syaoran next to Sakura, Touya's expression immediately darkened as he glared at his younger opponent, with the latter equally returning the favor. Sakura sighed and shook her head. Why did her brother have to tag along on this trip?

"Thank you for inviting us on this trip, Mrs. Daidouji," Yukito said with a grateful smile to Sonomi. "We're looking forward to it!"

"It's my pleasure," Sonomi smiled back.

"Attention all passengers, please begin lining up in front of your boarding gate. We will be departing soon," a voice on the intercom suddenly spoke.

"Well, I guess we should start lining up right now," Tomoyo noted.

"Hey, Sakura-" Touya began.

Sakura shot him a glare. "I'm not falling for that one again." She referred to her trip to Hong Kong where he fooled her into thinking she had to take her shoes off on the plane when she really didn't need to.

"Just testing ya!"

Boarding the plane went smoothly; however when it came to sitting down, Touya and Syaoran caused a bit of a commotion fighting over sitting next to Sakura, the former not wanting the latter to sit next to his sister and trying to block him from doing so.

"This is my seat!"

"Well, I don't want you sitting here! Go sit somewhere else!"

"You go sit somewhere else!"

"Enough! Brother, Syaoran's seat is assigned here so he's sitting with me," Sakura firmly exclaimed, attempting to put an end to their plane seat feud.

"See, your sister says I'll be sitting with her," Syaoran said smugly as he roughly pushed past Touya's attempt of a body barricade and sat down next to Sakura. Touya looked flabbergasted for a moment before he scowled and went to join Yukito at their assigned seating.

"I still don't know why that brat is coming along," Touya grumbled.

"You really care for Sakura and don't want to see her hurt, don't you?" Yukito commented. "You're a good brother, Touya."

"Pfft, shut up."

"Sakura's brother still really dislikes you even after these years," Tomoyo chuckled. "It'd be nice if you two could get along someday."

"Like that's ever going to happen," Syaoran muttered.

"Hwaah! I can't breathe!" a voice suddenly cried out from inside Sakura's carry-on bag. Eyes widening with surprise, Sakura opened her bag to see that she had forgotten to give Kero some air. "Ker-" Catching herself, she lowered her voice to a low whisper. "Sorry, Kero. We'll be there, soon!"

"Did you forget I was in here?!" the small Guardian Beast asked irritably.

"Hey stuffed animal, stop talking or else people are going to stare at us," Syaoran chided.

"Hmph, fine. Don't forget, i'm in here!" Kero reminded as he lowered himself back into Sakura's bag. Normally he'd pick a fight with Syaoran for calling him a stuffed animal, but since they were in public, he begrudgingly decided to let it go just this once.

After the flight staff reviewed some plane rules and went over safety protocols like what to do during an emergency, the plane took off, bound for Paris, France. Since it was an 11+ hour flight, Sakura found herself falling asleep on Syaoran's shoulders a few times, which he didn't mind. At one point, Tomoyo even filmed the two magical lovebirds sleeping on each other's shoulders until she too fell asleep out of tiredness and the plane screwing up their usual body clock. When they weren't sleeping, Tomoyo taught her friends some key French survival phrases. Finally, after what felt like forever, the plane finally arrived at its destination.

"Attention all passengers, we are arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Please remain seated until we come to a full stop," the head flight attendant advised over the intercom.

Waking up from her sleep, Sakura sat up and opened the window curtain. Her eyes widened with awe at the sight that greeted her. "We're...finally in Paris..."


	3. Chapter 3

"Thank you so much for babysitting Manon again," Nadja Chamack said as she handed her 5-year-old daughter to Marinette, who gleefully skipped over to the latter's side with a big toothy grin. Then looking at her daughter, she directed her next words to her. "Mommy's going to pick you up when I'm done, okay? Be good."

"Okay!" exclaimed Manon cheerfully. With a small wave of her hand, she watched as her mom left the Dupain-Cheng residence that also doubled as a patisserie. After her mom left, she looked up at Marinette enthusiastically. "Let's play superheroes and villains! I'm Ladybug and you're an Akumatized! Woosh~!"

Marinette let out a weak laugh. Being a superhero in disguise sure can be awkward sometimes. It'd be nice if she could reveal that she and Ladybug are the same person, but Tikki had forewarned her during their first meeting that she should never disclose her true identity to anyone. "Ok-" Before she could finish, Manon suddenly whacked her in the stomach with a toy yoyo. "OW!" she cried, doubling over. Why did she agree to babysitting again? Just as Manon was about to whack her with a yoyo again, the doorbell suddenly rang. Oh, sweet relief. Talk about being saved by the bell. "I'll get that!"

Detaching herself from Manon for a moment, Marinette went to answer the door. Upon opening the door, she came face to face with Alya. "Bonjour, Marinette!" exclaimed her friend as she gave a salutory wave. Seeing Manon behind her, she grinned. "Babysitting again?"

Marinette nodded. "Uh-huh. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you had any plans today since Adrien's having another one of his photoshoots today, but it looks like you're too busy..." Alya let her words trail off,

"W-w-wh-what?! Adrien?!" stammered Marinette with a flustered expression. This was starting to feel like deja vu, her babysitting Manon and Alya showing up to tell her that Adrien was having a photoshoot nearby. Hopefully there wouldn't be any Akumatized incidents today like that time.

"I'll take over your babysitting job for a while so you can go meet him," Alya offered with a wink.

"Thank you tha3nk you thank you!" Marinette shrieked with excitement and gratefulness. Alya was better at interacting with little kids, so hopefully she would be able to pry Manon off her hands for just a couple of minutes so she could go bump into her hot crush.

"But Marinette, you told mommy you were going to babysit today!" Manon whined.

"Uh..." Marinette looked frantically at Alya with a pleading expression that screamed "help!" to see if the latter had any bright ideas to detach her from the young child.

"So Manon, playing at home seems a little dull, don't you think? How about going out for a walk?" Alya suggested with a wink.

Manon lit up. "So I can catch more Akumatized?"

Alya laughed. "Akumatized? Were you and Marinette playing Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Yep! But there's no one to play Chat Noir so it's just me as Ladybug and Marinette as the Akumatized." Manon exclaimed proudly.

"She hit me in the stomach with the yoyo," Marinette explained, pointing to the toy yoyo that was now lying on the floor next to the couch.

"Seems like you had fun before I came here. So Manon, shall we go to the park and see if we can find and catch any Akumatized there?" suggested Alya.

"Yeah!"

With that, the three of them left the Dupain-Cheng residence and headed towards the park with different goals in mind: Marinette to catch a glimpse of Adrien and Manon to continue playing her Ladybug vs Akumatized roleplaying game. On the way towards the park, they passed by an empty shop front with a notice that read, "Daidouji Toy Company: Coming Soon."

"Looks like someone's opening up business here," Alya remarked. "Judging from the name I'm guessing it's a Japanese toy company?"

"Looks like," Marinette agreed. She tried to see into the window to see if she could make out anything, but it was too dark inside.

"Do you think they'll be selling lots of toys? Like Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls?" asked Manon hopefully.

"We can sure hope so," Alya replied with a grin.

Moving on, they continued their way towards the park where Adrien was having his photoshoot. As usual, he was too wrapped up in posing for the cameras as instructed to notice the trio approaching to watch him from not too far away.

"That's it!" exclaimed a photographer. "Now if you can just slide into pose-perfect!" The shutters flashed as he took countless photos of the young blond model.

"Isn't he so cool?" Marinette gushed.

"You just wanted to come here because of him, didn't you?" Manon accused.

"Well, err, yes, uh, I mean not really, I mean..." Marinette stammered.

"Hey, looks like they're on break at the moment," Alya noted, seeing Adrien relax and the photographers going off to take a short break. "Adrien!" she suddenly called, waving at him.

Marinette widened her blue eyes. "W-wait, Alya, no!" Before she could stop her friend, Adrien had already overheard Alya calling his name and turned his attention on the trio.

Approaching them, Adrien greeted, "Hello."

"Hey," replied Alya.

"H-Hi-u-h-uh nice weather out today!" Marinette stammered out in response.

"So what brings you here?"

"Well, our Marinette here wanted-" Alya began to say, but Marinette quickly covered up what she was about to say.

"-to take Manon here around to catch more Akumatized! Uh...yeah, that's it!"

"Sounds like fun," Adrien commented. "I'd love to join in, but as you can see..." He nodded in the direction of the photographers who were ready to resume the photoshoot.

"No worries, you do your thing and we'll be nearby...watching," Alya grinned, winking at Marinette on the last uttered word, causing the latter to blush.

A few hours later, Nadja came to pick up Manon. By this time, Marinette was back home after an eventful day outside. There was a brief period where she had to fight an actual Akumatized as Ladybug together with Chat Noir, but they as usual were able to get the Akuma out of its victim and restore the victim to their former self. In this case, the victim was some guy who was feeling dejected by not being able to get the last ice cream cone before it got sold out and ended up seeking revenge per Hawkmoth's influence. Now standing behind her parents' bakery shop counter since they had asked her to cover for a little while, Marinette waited for any customers to walk through the door.

"Your parents' pastries and baked goods are the best so I'm sure customers will come by any moment now!" exclaimed her kwami Tikki.

Marinette smiled. Suddenly, there was a small chime from the door followed by an exclamation of "uwaah!" plus speech in a language she couldn't understand. Tikki quickly hid in Marinette's bag as the dark-haired girl looked up to see who the customers were. "Ah...bonjour?" she asked the three young Asian tourists (who looked to be around her age or younger) before her, hoping that they were familiar with some basic French to communicate.


End file.
